Poultry feeder



1;). R. BALLARD POULTRY FEEDER Dec. 28, 1948.

' Filed Jan. 10, 1947 Patented Dec. 28, 1948 UNITED PATENT POULTRYFEEDER Dim, 3, Ba1lard, Mild w. Calif- Application January 10, 1947", Scip N 3 .5

(01. lit 53) My invention relates to it with? ileedex.

An important object. of invention s tim vide a poultry feeder adaptedtor the feed ng oi various sizes. of poultry, and partiezeler r adaptedfor feeding chickens.

A further object of. the. invention is iii-W de a poultry feeder,wherein teed antomatir oally delivered. by ravit into proper elati withthe feed op nin s oi th device- A further object is. to movide a pou trfeeder onstructed to preve t the. loss: o feed cont ne therein. either ythe. entry of. ma ter into the feeder, or by ponltnytossing the teedfrom t e feeder- Astill further objest oimy intention is t p ovide a.poult y .ieeder having. means-for pr ventmg the pou try ir mroosting ontop of he mod Qth objec s. and. ad antages i he. in e t will be.apparent during. theourseo he ollowing description.

In the a mpany n drawings. torm ns: a par of this application, and inwhigh. like numerals are emp oy d to designate like parts. t oughout hesome.

Figure 1 is. a side elevation oi the pou try eeder embodying myinvention..

Figure 2 is a plan view of the; same... parts brok n away,

Fi ure 3 is a vertical ansverse s tion. taken on line 33 of 1,.

Figure 4, is a fragmentary vertical sectional detail through a feederplate and its associated adjustment shutter, drawn on an enlarged scale,

Fi re .5 is an. .en argedirag nentary e i section through a Z-shapedsnpport, and associated elements.

In the drawings, where for the. purpose of illustration is shown apreierred embodiment of my invention, the numeral l9. designates it ieedhopper, which is open at its.-top, and has generally vertical sides H,and vertical ends l2, all rigidly secured together. The upper open endof the hopper I0 is provided with a hinged roof or cover [3, which ispreferably semi-cylindrical. The roof or cover i3 is hinged to the upperend of the hopper, at one side of the same, by means of hinges l4.Mounted upon the roof or cover l3, and having pivotal connectiontherewith, is a transversely corrugated vane l5. This vane I5 ispivotally secured to longitudinally spaced upstanding lugs l6, carriedby the cover l3, and the vane is free to pivot or tilt laterally withrespect to the cover l3. The vane I5 is horizontal, and extendslongitudinally of the cover l3 for the full length of the same.

Arranged beneath the hopper in, and extend for the full length of; the.same, is a. horizontal tray ll, extendsoutwardly beyond the sides I l,as shown at l8, and carries: longitudinal vertis sally upstandingsidefianges. 19. The. tray III has a raised portion 20., extendingthroughput its entire length, and this raised portion is, up.- wardlyinclined fromthe bottom. of the tray in transverse cross section.

The ends 12 are. rigidly secured to the ends. of the tray t'l', whilethe lower edges of the sides ll terminate short. or? the. bottom ofthe/tray l-l, providing longitudinal openings 2| which extend throughoutsubstantially tine. entire. length .of the hopper. Vertically adiustablymounted upon the inner surfaces. oi the sides: it, near the lower edgesof the same. are longitudinal feed comitol plates or shutters 22,adapted .for coyer-ing; the longitudinal openings. 2|. These: feedcontrol plates. are connected. with bolts; 2.3; extending throughvertical slots iormed in the. s des t... i is thus seen that bymanipulation of. the. bolt 23, the feed; control plates :27. may be.erti eiiv adjusted, and... clamped in the sele ted adjsted position;

vertically adlustably mounted upon he tipstan ng fla es 19 are Z-sh pedsuppor s or strips; 25, which extend for-the 1111 leng h oi th hopperIt. These. Z -shabed. supports 2d lower and upper vertical webs: 26:and. 211, and: a

horizontal web 28.. The vertical webs Z5 tarry bolts. 2.5-, extendingthrough. vertical 33. in thenanges t9. Thennmeral 3i designates lonitudinal guards. or bellies, having vertical. slots 2, for receivingbolts; carried by the webs .21. The bafiies 3t are verticallyadjustable. and he clamped in selected adjusted.- nosition by th hotts.33. The bodies. 31! extend for the entire length- .of the. tray l1, andhave their-upper edges rolled to provide inwardlyproieoting; .cunvedflanges: 34..

The ends it have wingportionsfi. extendin outwardly beyond the sides Hof the hopper M,

with the tray l1 and associated elements, and form with the tray feedcompartments 36. Removably mounted within the feed compartments 36 arefeeder plates 31, having feed openings 38, for the passage of the headsof the poultry. These feeder plates 31 are vertically inclined, andtheir upper edges engaged against the sides ll, while their lower edgesrest upon the horizontal webs 28. Slidably adjustably mounted upon thefeeder plates 31, near the upper edges of the same are longitudinalslides or shutters 39. The shutters 39 have notches or recesses 40,formed in their lower edges, and these recesses register with the feedopenings 38 in assembly. The shutters 39 carry bolts 4! extendingthrough slots 42 in the feeder plates 31. The shutters 33 are thereforeadjustable laterally upon the feeder plates to vary the size of the feedopenings 38. Formed in the horizontal webs 28 of the Z-shaped supports25, and arranged beneath each feed opening 38, are transverse inwardlydownwardly inclined recesses or troughs 43. These troughs '43 extendinwardly to the edge'of the horizontal web 28, and facilitate the returnof the feed tossed up by the poultry to the feed compartments 36;

lows:

The device may be placed on the ground, in a poultry building, or on anysuitable stand, and

the hopper H] is filled with any suitable feed.

The operation of the poultry feeder is as. fol-' The feed control plates22 are previously ad- Y justed and regulate the gravitational supply offeed from the hopper into the feed compartments 36. The raised inclinedportion of the tray I'Iffurther aids the gravitational supply of feedinto the compartments 36.' The feed control plates 22 may be opened to agreater extent to supply a large amount of feed, such as when full grownchickens are feeding, or they may be opened to any desired degree toproperly regulate the supply of feed to the poultry. Both the Z sections25 and the baflies 3! are vertically adjustable, by means of the bolts29 and 33 respectively. These members may be adjusted to heights toaccommodate poultry of various sizes.

The feeding poultry extend their necks over the curved flanges 34, andtheir headsv extend into the feed openings 38 where they may reach thesupply of feed in the feed compartments 36. The feeder plates 37 preventthe poultry from stepping into the feed compartments 36, and

prevent any large amount of foreign matter from entering the feeder. Theadjustableshutters 39 may be arranged so that the feed openings 38 arejust large enough for the heads of the poultry, and thus further tend toprevent foreign matter from entering the feed compartments. The curvedflanges 34 tend to prevent the loss of feed tossed up by the poultrywhile they are feeding. These curved flanges also prevent damage to thenecks or bodies of the feeding poultry. The inwardly downwardlyinclined:

troughs 43, tend to cause whatever feed drops back through the feedopenings 38 and upon the horizontal Webs 28 to return into thecompartments 36. The corrugated pivoted vane l5 prevents the poultryfrom roosting on top of the. feeder, as they cannot maintain a footingon the vane. The cover l3 may of course be swung open for refilling thefeeder, and for cleaning the interior of the same. The adjustments ofthe various elements of the feeder, above described, show that thedevice is adapted for feeding poultry whether the same be large orsmall.- i

file of this patent:

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown anddescribed, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described-my invention, what I c imi 1 l v.

1 A poultry,,-feeder,r comprising a hopper adapted for containing "feedand'includingsides .and ends having portions extending externallytransversely of the hopper, a tray secured to the lower end of thehopper and including portions extending externally transversely of thehopper, vertically upstanding flanges carried by theouter edgeszof thetray, adjustable Z-shaped having 'a portion extending outside of thehopper, an'adjustable shutter "carried'by the hopper for controlling thesupply of feedfrom within the same onto the outside portion of the tray,adjustable means including a Z-shaped member and a curved guard attachedto the tray, a feeder plate mounted upon the Z-Shaped member andengaging the hopper, and a cover for the hopper.

- 3. A poultry feeder, comprising a feed hopper including sides, a traysecured to the lower end of the hopper and including portions extendinglaterally outwardly from the hopper and Vertically upstanding flanges,adjustable shutters attached to the-sides of the hopper for controllingthe supply of feed' from within the hopper onto the lateral portions 'ofthe tray, adjustable Z-shaped members attached to the upstandingflanges, adjustable guards" attached to the Z-shaped members, and feederstrips removably supported upon the Z-shaped members and engaging thesides of the hopper.

' v x ANA R. BALLARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of'record in the UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Name Date 1,463,862 Wolf Aug. 7, 1923

